BEING PART OF THE SOLUTIONS

I am not good at showing off and promoting myself, but have been told I’ll just have to do it during the election campaign. So it’s time to give myself some credit for the positive difference I make to Fremantle. I don’t claim that I change the world, but I try to be part of the solutions and get the small things fixed.

So here a few examples of the many times I have made a positive difference:

Most recently I was made aware of the property on the corner of Suffolk Street and South Terrace being used as an illegal dump. I took some photos, published them on this blog on Tuesday lunchtime, was contacted by the City of Fremantle, and on Thursday morning three skip bins were at the site that was being cleaned up.

When National Broad Band contractors left the High Street Mall in a mess, I blogged about it. The City put warning signs around it the next day and got the contractors back within a week to level the pavement.

When I name&shame the lack of maintenance, etc. in Fremantle the City administration does take notice and repairs happen pretty fast, especially when I point out there is a public liability issue.

I was part of a working group to beautify Arthur Head and we recommended that Council should approve a new path from Kidogo Arthouse to J Shed, with solar lighting, and to light up the cliff face. That was implemented and is there for all to enjoy now.

When I lived in one of the old Pilot’s Cottages next to the Roundhouse I observed that people were having trouble negotiating the dirt path along Captain’s Lane. Disabled people found it hard to get from the disabled parking bays to the tourist attraction, and women in high heels attending weddings had major problem not spraining ankles. I took photos and published two blog posts about it and within six months the city put down a nice path.

A friend who has MS told me that if he wanted to go to the cafe at B Shed he had to ride his gopher on the road against traffic to the other end of B Shed, so I alerted Fremantle Ports to that problem, and within a few weeks a temporary ramp was put down, that has now been made permanent. Whenever I walk past it I call it Roel’s ramp. ; >)

Getting rubbish bins cleaned west of the railway line at Arthur Head was a real problem for a long time, to the annoyance of J Shed artists and Roundhouse volunteers. So I kept plugging away at it and reporting about it for a long time. Now regular cleaning is the routine.

I regularly engage with Fremantle Councillors and officers on how things can be improved, because I strongly believe that we can all be part of problem solving and finding solutions. While others say that they should be doing something about it, I just do something about it and take ownership and responsibility. Whinging is only good when it creates positive outcomes, so I rather offer suggestions for solutions.

It helps that I walk the streets daily, and I wished more CoF officers would do the same, because one observes so much more walking than driving a vehicle.

Parking inspectors should be made de-facto rangers and report back maintenance issues they observe, as should all City staff.

If we all make Fremantle issues our problem, we’ll get faster results and fewer unhappy people!